April 22 (Bloomberg) -- Almacenes Exito SA, Colombia’s biggest publicly traded retailer, fell the most in six weeks after saying the “demanding” conditions that reduced first- quarter profit by 89 percent will continue.

Medellin-based Exito declined 1.8 percent to 10,700 pesos in Bogota trading, the steepest loss since March 6.

“We acknowledge that the current profit and loss results are challenging; however, not surprising to us,” Carlos Mario Giraldo, head of retail operations, said in a conference call today. “We anticipated a very demanding 2009 and we know that it is not over yet.”

Exito’s net income dropped to 2.1 billion pesos ($906,000) in the first three months of the year from 19.5 billion pesos a year earlier, according to data posted on the financial regulator’s Web site last night. Medellin-based brokerage Interbolsa SA estimated profit would rise 22 percent while JPMorgan Chase & Co. forecast a 7.6 percent increase per share.

Colombia’s retail sales fell 4.1 percent in February from a year earlier, the national statistics agency reported April 20. March sales were hurt by price discounts as retailers in the country reduced inventories amid a spending slowdown, Giraldo said.

Exito said it reduced debt by 4.7 percent, cut prices on some items as part of customer loyalty initiatives and trimmed investments to shore up its finances as the global financial crisis spreads to Latin America’s fifth-biggest economy.

First-quarter results were “a tough set of numbers for tough times,” Rupert Stebbings, head of international sales at Interbolsa, said by e-mail. “The company has battened down the hatches but is still shipping water.”